Page 9 of You Only Live Once
‘I do, but I think we both know he’s right about that. And, of course, there is the fact that you’re known as the reclusive romance writer.’
Turning to look out of the window at the cows in a field two along from mine, I spoke without looking at him. ‘I would have thought that coming from a family like yours, you would know better than to believe everything you read in the media.’
He smiled as I turned back. ‘Touché.’
‘So, through here’s the bathroom,’ I continued the tour. ‘There’s some toiletries there, with extras under here.’ Briefly opening a cupboard under the sink, I showed him backup supplies. ‘If there’s anything else you need, just let me know.’
‘Lily, this is all great, but you’re not a hotel. You don’t have to do all this.’
‘Like I said, I wanted you to be comfortable. And with that in mind, you look pretty tired, so I’ll leave you to rest. If I’m out in the morning, help yourself to anything from the fridge and cupboards for breakfast.’
We both knew it was highly unlikely I’d be out, as there wasn’t a blue moon due for ages yet, but I kept up the pretence and Jack went along with it.
‘Thanks, Lily. I really do appreciate you putting yourself out like this. I’m aware that this wasn’t really your idea.’
‘Well, none of that really matters now, does it? You’re here and I’d like you to be comfortable. Besides, Felix would never forgive me if I was rude to you and bearing in mind he’s one of the few people I see, I kind of have to keep him sweet.’ I gave a quick smile, only half joking. ‘Goodnight, Jack.’
‘Night, Lily.’
With that, I closed the door behind me and went downstairs to lock up, preparing myself for a soak in the bath and a read of my book. When I returned upstairs a short time later, no light shone from beneath Jack’s door, and all was silent within.
4
The next morning, I tentatively stuck my head out of the bedroom door, listening. When I didn’t hear movement, I stuffed my feet into furry slippers and padded downstairs into the kitchen.
‘Holy shit!’
Jack, dressed in a T-shirt fitted enough to show a body that was well honed from manual labour, but not tight enough to look like he should be in a boy band, and paired with well-worn jeans and bare feet, looked up from where he was sitting at my kitchen counter, a newspaper spread out in front of him.
‘Good morning to you too.’ He gave me a smile that I imagined a lot of women had been witness to first thing, having been seduced by it the night before. I put the buffers up against that particular train of thought as I wrapped my dressing gown tighter around me.
‘Sorry, it was so quiet I didn’t think anyone was down here.’
‘Good to know I’m a quiet house guest.’
I quirked an eyebrow. ‘Just because your snoring didn’t rattle the windowpanes last night and you’re capable of reading newspaper in silence doesn’t mean I’m going to give you the gold award for best house guest just yet.’
He gave that grin again. I really wished he’d stop doing that. ‘It’s always good to have something to aim for.’ He closed the paper and stepped off the bar stool. ‘Can I make you a drink?’
‘No, but thank you for asking.’ I made my way to the cupboard where my crockery was stored and pulled a bowl out, then headed to the fridge for the yoghurt. ‘Did you have something for breakfast? Other than coffee.’ I nodded at the empty cup.
‘Yeah, I found some muesli in the cupboard. I hope that was OK to use.’
‘Absolutely. Like I said, if it’s there, use it. Are you sure that’s enough, though? I can cook you something if you’d like.’
‘Absolutely not.’ He laughed. ‘I know you were press ganged into hosting me in the first place, so I’m certainly not about to let you cook breakfast for me.’
I squeezed a large blob of golden honey into the centre of my pile of Greek yoghurt and grabbed a spoon from the drawer. ‘Can we just agree to move on from the how of you being here, and just accept that you are?’
He nodded. ‘Agreed.’
I took my breakfast and climbed up onto the kitchen bar stool, doing my best not to flash Jack any thigh as I did so, placing the bowl before me.
‘Do you have plans today?’
‘Yes. I’ve got three appointments to go and see old clients who are interested in taking me back on and another two later in the week. In between that, I need to update my website completely, and I was thinking of designing a flyer so that I could do a leaflet drop around the area to try and draw some more business in.’
‘Sounds like you’re already well off the blocks. It could be worth you dropping in and seeing Marge at the village shop. I’m sure she’d put one of your leaflets up when you’ve got them done, and in the meantime, I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of local Facebook village group thingamajig. As you may have guessed, I’m not a member of it, but Marge definitely will be and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind putting something on there about your garden design and the services you offer.’
